Michael Phelps is So Over Swimming With Humans

Michael Phelps retired from competitive swimming, but he sounds like he still has some fire left in him.

For one, Phelps still has opinions on the state of racing. According to the Washington Post, the Baltimore Bullet was critical of a plan to add more races to the program in the next Olympics. “I don’t want to say it, but it seems like there’s too much going on,” he said this week. That’s saying a lot for a guy who made his name swimming as many events as possible, and winning all of them.

But now that he’s free of the Olympic format, Phelps appears to have discovered the power of grabbing attention with a single, much-hyped race. And he gets to do something different.

We already knew Phelps would be involved in Shark Week, and word came down on Friday that he plans to swim a single race.

Phelps v Shark goes down at 6 p.m. on July 23 to kick off the Discovery Channel’s midsummer tribute to the deadly predator. Phelps will also “dispel the myths and common misconceptions, teach him how to safely dive with sharks.”

In case you were wondering how Phelps is feeling about this endeavor, he posted evidence on Instagram that he’s already diving in.

“I was able to do something that I had always wanted to do. Be in a cage and dive with great White sharks,” he posted.